


Strands of Gaia and Orochi

by Triblast28



Category: King of Fighters
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkwardness, Bonding, Finding friends with somewhat equally destructive powers, Friendship, Leona essentially reads Rock like an open book, One Shot, Short lived angst, Trains, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-28 18:11:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20970866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triblast28/pseuds/Triblast28
Summary: Rock and Leona share a brief train ride to South Town by accident. Along the way, the two go from awkward thought to be meances to something similar to a friend.





	Strands of Gaia and Orochi

It was rare for Leona to be split up from her team. Even if it was for a short while. Where ever she went Ralf, Clark, Whip, or maybe even their Commander was following closely behind. There were safety and comfort in numbers. She didn't have to worry much about herself and others when they were around. Unfortunately for her, Ralf and Clark confused which train they were supposed to be on and they got split up at the station. Now here Leona sat near alone in the luggage car of a train on its way to South Town. Emphasis on near alone. Sitting at the other end of the train car, obviously trying to avoid eye contact with her, was a young man with blonde hair and red eyes.

Rock was expecting a calm quiet ride home. To be able to peacefully lay back and get some much-needed rest after a long series of street fights and tournaments. Unfortunately for him however that wasn't meant to be. Rock should've taken Terry's words when he said "Only ride the rails when you want to meet interesting folk" to heart, because sitting across the way from him was certainly an "interesting folk". Blue hair and a cold stare that sent shivers down his spine. Even with his back turned to her he still felt her eyes burning a hole through the back of his head. Anxiety started to spiral out of control as he wondered just what exactly does she want.

Leona only gave passing glances to Rock at first. No desire to engage him at all. Yet with every passing minute, this silence grew more unnerving. For 40 minutes he has been trying to hide, avoid her, and be generally skittish. Even a sudden bump in the tracks was enough to make him tighten his stance and put his guard up. He would remain like that for a couple of seconds before almost instinctively running a hand through his hair and calming down. Well, calming down was the wrong choice of words. More so returning to his anxious state with no desire to fight. Leona knows she is intimidating and would normally pay no attention to this behavior, but. In those moments where he put his guard up, an almost malicious power would rise from him. It felt like she was in a room with a powder keg ready to blow, which was a feeling she hated.

Rock wanted to hop on his bike and drive through the wall of the train. He didn't care about being over 80 miles away from home with no gas money, he wanted to get out. He was trapped, with a mysterious scary woman that carved her way into the train with a knife and her bare hands. Rock has met his fair share of strange fighters over the years, but this was different. He knew he was partially to blame for the tense silence because of his own inability to start conversations (especially with women) at times, but this was getting ridiculous. Though, he felt that if he turned around and let his guard down to even say hello he would end up in another exhausting fight tied to nothing good. There had to be another reason why she was here. There is no way this could've been a strange coincidence Rock thought. There had to be another force at work trying to ruin his night.

Normally Rock would've turned on the radio he had with him and sat down to eat at this point in the journey. Leona herself was used to the sounds of Ralf and Clark bickering all the way home, much to her slight amusement. Instead, both were treated to silence. The only sounds were those of the train gliding down the tracks and the wind blowing through the hole Leona made. With the exception of the moon's light, the two sat in near-complete darkness. Only that faint light was around to give them some sense of clarity. Leona was much calmer than Rock, not too put off by her dark surroundings, while it most certainly didn't help Rock's current state. 

They sat across from each other as obscured strangers sitting in the dark.

Questions about each floated through their heads yet remained unsaid. Just what do you want with me? What is that power I'm sensing from you? Do you know who I am? Why are you so nervous? It was a standoff, though neither would describe it as such. They sat there waiting for one to do something. To do anything that made their intent clear. Yet it didn't seem to be happening anytime soon. The pair of teens would continue their silent journey through the American southwest in an unsteady state of peace.

As ten more minutes passed the flat farmland became orange groves. Rock couldn't focus on the calming site however, not due to fear, but rather his growing hunger. If there was one thing that was guaranteed when you lived with Terry Bogard, it was the fact that you were going to be eating a lot of food on a very precise schedule. Rock groaned internally remembering all of the "hungry like a wolf" jokes he endured, but he couldn't deny the fact that he felt hungry like a wolf. Rock tried to hide any growing signs of discomfort, but couldn't. His bag full of food was sitting behind him, but to turn around and grab a bite, would most certainly mean that he would have to face the woman that he believes has been staring him down this entire ride.

It was in that moment where Rock's body, as per usual, did something regrettable. His stomach let out a long and loud growl getting Leona's attention once again. His anxious fidgeting turned into embarrassed fidgeting as he looked towards the ground and awkwardly put his hands in his pockets. It was at this moment Leona softly stood up and began walking towards Rock.

With the sudden creek of the floorboards, Rock's stance tightened once again as he turned to face Leona, not exactly sure what was coming next. What he saw was the woman standing perfectly still under the moon's light. While her expression didn't exactly soften, there was something different about the energy she put out. She didn't feel as quite as intimidating now. Rock's eyes met Leona's trying to gauge what she would do next. Leona's cold blue eyes said nothing as she reached into one of the pouches on her belt. The two didn't look away from each other as she rummaged around. Rock internally prepared for a fight. Even though he really didn't feel like one, especially after how his last one went.

What Rock was not ready for was Leona pulling out a simple granola bar and asking him.

"Hungry?" Without a single trace of feeling in her voice. Leona watched as Rock's frame loosened and an expression that read "That's it?" took his face. Leona blamed herself to a degree for the current situation. If she did something like this sooner she probably would've saved Rock from a load of anxiety, but then again people weren't always her strong suit. Leona stood there arm stretched out with a seemingly blank expression on her face. Rock stared at her with disbelief written on his face. How he hated the scenarios he made up in his head at times.

“No, it's ok. I have food of my own,” He replied with an awkward yet polite smile on his face.

“So why didn’t you eat sooner?”

“Well, uh, you see, ha, ah uh…”

Leona could instantly tell what the problem was from his nervous body language to the blush on his cheeks. He was terrified of her. Leona not wanting things to return to the annoying awkwardness, she decided to address this directly. “Are you scared of me,” She asked while looking him straight in the eyes.

At that moment Rock’s cheeks became as crimson as his eyes as he held his arms up and stumbled a bit back. “No! That's not the case, I just ain’t used to being around chicks!”

Leona didn’t say anything in reply and just slammed the protein bar into one of his free hands. “Eat,” Leona hoped that he would calm down and stop making a fool out of himself.

Leona nearly forgot about the ominous aura that radiated from him minutes ago. It was hard to believe that someone that could barely spit out a sentence could have such frightening powers, but that was just another reminder to always keep her guard up. There was still a long ride between them and Leona had no clue when she would be picked up.

Rock looked at the protein bar with a slight skeptic look on his face. However, with a growl of his stomach, he remembered he couldn’t really afford to be a skeptic on an empty stomach. He quickly unwrapped the bar and scarfed it down nearly forgetting Leona was there as she stood perfectly still, looking up at the moon.

After finishing his small bit of food Rock rubbed the back of his head and let out a sigh, feeling bad for how nervous he was acting earlier. Leona now doesn’t seem like the type to pull something sketchy. The least he owed her at this point was a proper introduction.

“My name is Rock.” 

“Leona.”

Once again they returned to silence, either unsure how to continue the conversation. While both were obscured by the shadows of the train car, they had thousands of questions bouncing around their heads, but now standing next to each other under the light they both seemed a lot less mysterious to each other. A lot more normal.

“So, what brings you round here?”

“A mission.” 

“A mission eh? You certainly look like a soldier-y type. I bet it is all classified so I won’t bother you by asking.”

“Mm.” 

“Not much of a talker I’m guessin?”

“No.”

Rock smiled a little at her blunt straightforwardness. “Haha, I don’t mind that,”. Rock eased up and put his hands in his jacket’s pocket. “If I have to be entirely honest, you did end up scaring me when you first busted in.”

“I’m used to hearing that,” Leona said rather ambivalently.

Rock, unsure how to feel about that response, kicked at the dust on the ground around them. Leona quietly sat down on a pile of luggage and the ride returned to silence. Much to both of their approval the tension noticeably declined. Rock eventually sat down next to Leona and began looking up at the stars. It was a clear night. It felt like nothing was between the two and the stars. The scent of oranges was carried by the wind as they continued to travel.

"Do you like jambalaya?" Leona turned her head and saw Rock rummaging through a backpack of food. He pulled out a tupperware of cajun food with a fork taped to the top of it. Leona looked at him, seemingly interested in the dish. She hadn't eaten for a while too and she did just give away her last ration.

"I never had it before." 

"Oh ok! It's kind of like gumbo, but not exactly. Its got rice, vegetables, some meat… well, it is mostly shrimp and steak at this point, I took the sausages out. I think it is pretty good," He said with a smile, holding the dish out towards her. "I made it myself."

Leona glanced at him and back at the food. He didn't seem like the type to poison food. Even though he didn't seem like the type, she still hesitantly grabbed the tupperware and eyed it suspiciously. It was still a bit warm and smelled rather good.

"If you think it is poisoned, I could take the first bite for you," Rock remarked jokingly. However, as he briefly exchanged glances with Leona once again, he had a feeling it was an actual thought that had crossed her mind. "If you don't want to eat it you don't-"

"No it is fine," Leona cut in as she opened the tupperware. "The colonel says to always appreciate any meal you can get." 

"Ha. I get that, Terry always says something like that as an excuse to chow down."

"Terry?" Rock's grin turned into a half-smile as he ran a hand through his hair again. "Yeah… Terry Bogard, I'm kind of his student."

"So, you're Rock Howard?" "The one and only," Almost all of the energy in Rock's voice seemed gone as he looked away from Leona.

"Hmm, it is nice to finally meet you. Terry talks a lot about you, he's rather proud."

"I know," Rock let out a sigh and looked back to the night's sky. "How do you know Terry?"

"I've crossed paths with him before in some tournaments," Was all that Leona said. Rock nodded and continued to stargaze as Leona took her first bite. Very subtly, her eyes perked up. "This tastes good."

"It should," A proud smirk was now on Rock's face. "I put my all into making it."

The two returned to silence.

Sitting next to her was Rock Howard. A name she often heard, but never could really put a face to until now. The son of Geese Howard. It made too much sense. That strength did feel ever so familiar, even if it was watered down. They say the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, but Rock certainly didn't remind her of Geese. Geese Howard wouldn’t anxiously fidget around a train car for 40 minutes. That's for sure. Yet, it was hard to shake a lingering sense of dread that seemed to hang over Rock. And if her intel was right about what happened with Rock at his last fight of note, she thought she might've known what was on his mind.

That smirk was gone now. All there was now on Rock's face was a look of complementation. He wondered how much longer it would take to get back home. He needed to know how Terry was doing. During that last fight, all Rock could remember was blacking out and waking up in a cold sweat, seeing Terry get carried off the stage by Joe and Andy. It all happened so fast. The power that surged through him when he unleashed that rising storm, it was too much for him to even bare. He could only imagine what it did to Terry. That awful sensation when his blood started to boil, he wished he could rid himself of it altogether.

His hands balled into fists and his expression tightened. In the blink of an eye, the train went through a tunnel filling the car with darkness. In that darkness, Rock felt a hand grab onto his shoulder. The tunnel disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and Rock found himself under the moon's light once more, this time with Leona holding on to him. The two locked eyes with each other.

"Don't make this any harder on yourself than it already is." Rock looked away from her and turned his gaze to the floorboards. 

"Hating yourself and continuing to be afraid of yourself will only make it grow worse."

"Leona, listen." 

"Power like that is worse ignored and untrained, than when at the very least acknowledge.

I know!" Rock tightly gripped his knees, still not looking up. “But, but—” He felt his blood began to boil. He hated it when people just barged in like this, thinking they understood everything when even he had no clue. “What do you even know about me! You don’t even know what I'm…” As Rock turned his head in her direction he realized a sharp yet somber expression on her face.

Stillness overtook the car as the pair remained perfectly motionless. Rock now felt something distinctively heavy lingering above. Something that felt not too different than his own strength. Yet, it was much more savage. It was like Gaia, but angry and dark. Rock wasn't great at sensing stuff like this, but here it was different. It reminded him of that strength that arose when he let loose yet it was even more uncontrollable. The source was clear though. It was certainly coming from Leona, who still had that sharp yet somber expression resting on her face. Rock's body language eased up as that burst of anger faded away.

“It’s important to realize that you aren’t as alone as you think,” Leona stood up, directly under the moon’s bright light. “If you think that you are, then you'll drag yourself down even further. I don’t know Terry too well, but from how he fights, I can tell he doesn’t hold anything against near anyone. Especially not to someone that matters so much to him.”

Silence overtook the place as Rock took a deep breath. A hint of worry was on Leona's face as Rock didn't move or express. Perhaps she was too forthcoming. Maybe she did assume too much. It was risky trying to support someone you barely knew. Inside Rock's head though was a simple fact. Rock remembered he tended to make mountains out of mole hills when he got heated up and worried.

Rock eventually looked up at Leona. “You’re pretty good at pep talks ain’t ya,” Rock remarked a smile slowly forming on his face.

“In all honesty… I was mostly just repeating stuff I’ve heard before,” Leona had a blank expression on her face that clearly meant what she said.

Rock busted out in laughter as Leona let out a short “Hm”. Leona had to admit, it felt nice to cheer someone up like this. Perhaps this was why Ralf was so determined to get a smile out of her at times.

“If we do ever cross paths again Rock, I could help you try and control this. No one should lead a life cursed by their bloodlines.”

Rock smirked and stood up. “That would be nice, but first I want you to do one thing,” Leona raised an eyebrow. “Let go of my shoulder, you're crushing it,” Leona quickly retracted her arm. She had entirely forgotten she was grabbing onto Rock during this conversation. Rock grabbed his shoulder with a grin back on his face. “No one should lead life cursed by their bloodlines, eh. That’s another thing you picked up from someone else?”

“No, I had to learn that myself.”

Rock nodded in response. At this moment, despite the brief bursts of power and the fears that laid in the back of each others’ minds, the two teens felt oddly comfortable.

“Do you want me to turn on my radio?” Rock pointed to a portable radio strapped to the side of his bike.

“You can if you want,” Leona sat back down to continue eating her, now cold, jambalaya (it still tasted good nevertheless).

The rest of the ride was defined by comfortable quietness and brief conversations usually initiated by Rock. Stuff like have you ever been to South Town before? Have you ever beat Terry? Ever rode a motorcycle? He got short answers: no, not yet, and in a sidecar respectively. Leona somewhat enjoyed these brief talks, it was an interesting change of pace to talk to someone new, who also wasn’t too afraid of her. Though Rock still did get a bit nervous when Leona caught him off guard, she couldn’t tell if that was more because of his fear of girls or out of fear of her.

The ride felt shorter than it actually was. Both were surprised when it ground to a halt. Neither had realized they entered the city.

“Welcome to South Town, the… it’s… it’s a town in America,” Rock introduced sheepishly as he opened the train car’s door and began to wheel his bike out.

Leona wasn’t sure if she had ever been to a city like South Town before. It was oddly vibrant. Casinos, restaurants, beauty parlors, a basketball court, a four-car pileup, millions of neon signs, and well over a million people immediately flashed before her eyes as soon as she stepped out of the train. It was overwhelming, however, she just grabbed on to the back of Rock’s bike and continued to walk forward. If she went here a few years earlier she probably would’ve frozen up on the spot. Rock’s confidence as he navigated the surroundings also gave her a bit of relief.

After a little while of navigating the twists and turns of the urban jungle that made up the town, Leona and Rock found themselves outside of a small cafe with the words “R&B GLAM ROCK 2ND SOUTH” and “Oldline on Sunset Blvd.” written on its front. Rock gave it a smile. He was home in a way. Leona sat against Rock’s bike as he popped the kickstand and began to wait. He knew Blue Mary probably figured out he was on his way back into town and told Terry, so now it was just a matter of when he would show up.

The jazz blasting out of the windows of The Live House got Leona’s attention. It was so loud, powerful, and unignorable. Near everything in the city felt this way. It was constantly beaming with lights and life. Yet at the same time, it obviously had a sense of danger to it. There had to be some shady characters in the shadows nearby. At the same time, that seemed to be the last thing on anyone’s minds as they walked down the streets. Not a single person was stopping for anything. Leona felt like she understood the fighters that were from this city a bit more. They were in an environment that never stopped, so they didn’t either.

Almost as the exact thought about other South Town fighters crossed her mind, the familiar sound of a certain motorcycle came from down the road. Rock and Leona saw a long blonde ponytail dance in the wind as the bike got closer to them. Terry Bogard was here.

“Hey… Terry,” Rock began to say as Terry hopped off his bike and threw his helmet aside. “Terry, I’m so sorry for-”

But before he could even finish Terry grabbed Rock in a headlock and let out a signature blinding smile. “Sorry for what kid! You ain’t done nuthin wrong as far as I know!”

“But Terry!” Rock desperately tried to pry himself out of the man’s biceps. “You can’t just write off what I did… ”

“I can write off whatever I want, I’m the grown-up here Rock. Besides, you’ve probably been hurtin way more than me over this that’s for sure,” Terry let him go and ran a hand through Rock’s hair. “So how about you stop frettin and we get a bite to eat. I’ve been dyin to catch up with you,” Terry chuckled and tilted his hat as he faced Leona. “And your friend too. What brings you to my neck of the woods, Leona?”

“Mission went awry.”

"Aw shucks, sorry to hear that Leona.”

“Don’t be, things didn’t go to bad,” Leona’s eyes briefly glanced over at Rock who seemed to be in a much more cheerful mood.

“Maybe for you they didn’t, but it certainly went bad for someone else,” Terry remarked pointing up.

Descending from the sky was a black helicopter shining searchlights down on the trio, much to Leona’s embarrassment, Rock’s confusion, and Terry’s amusement. “Leona! Are you okay!? We are coming in for an urgent rescue opt!” Ralf shouted as Whip threw a rope down from the helicopter. “Get on before your dad kills us!”

Leona groaned and rubbed her forehead as the rope dangled between the three of them. “Hey Leona,” Rock said getting her attention. “It was nice meeting you tonight, I hope we can meet again,” Rock held his hand out and gave her a grin.

Leona smirked ever so slightly and tightly gripped his hand. Following the brief handshake (that nearly broke Rock’s hand) the two waved goodbye and turned away feeling much less lonely than when they started their brief shared journey.

“If Heidern finds out, this is entirely on you two dullards!” Whip shouted from inside the helicopter as she pulled Leona up.

“You were the one that brought us the helicopter! You are as guilty by association!” Ralf shouted back from the co-pilot’s seat.

“Mmhm,” Clark added on as he started to bring the helicopter up.

The unit quickly disappeared into the South Town smog leaving Rock and Terry alone on the surprisingly warm streets. Terry let out a chuckle and wrapped his arm around Rock’s shoulders and brought him in for a side hug.

“You doin alright Rock?” A smile stretching across his face.

“Yeah, I’m feelin pretty good Terry.”

**Author's Note:**

> In retrospect maybe I should've stretched this out to play up the angst, but I am extremely rusty. I was talking with a friend and I realized how similar Rock and Leona were so I decided to get the old creative juices going and try my hand at writing again. Please be honest about you feel! Have a nice day!


End file.
